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Mohamed Al Fayed was the catalyst to Fulham’s rise but also played a role in their demise (Picture: Getty Images)

There are many places to which Fulham fans can look to portion blame over our current plight.

Martin Jol is the obvious candidate, as he ultimately steered an otherwise sturdy ship towards the unfavourable end of the Premier League.

But we all know there’s more to it than that. There’s Alistair Mackintosh, a well-respected man that has made some questionable decisions.

Shahid Khan, clearly panicked as he is by the prospect of pouring money into a club only for it to get relegated, has made some strange calls. The possibility of his new sporting acquisition moving out of the limelight has somewhat blinkered his thought process.

Mohamed Al Fayed, too, deserves a mention. Not necessarily the man himself – he is a decent being, with sound values and an affinity with this club that will most likely never be matched.

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But his leaving, though – that really set us on course for disaster. While he was the catalyst to everything that is good about Fulham, he has also proved our downfall.

That is not his fault, it must be said. It was his right to sell up and given his age, and given the unerring support he has offered Fulham over the years, we cannot hold that against him.

However, it left us in something of a minor crisis. As you’d expect, the Egyptian did not willingly invest while the idea of selling the club lingered in his mind. That just makes business sense.

So we went one, arguably two summers without any significant incomings. Simply, his remit was to keep us going; there was no real improvement.

Martin Jol made some very bad decisions as Fulham manager (Picture: Getty Images)

Dimitar Berbatov was one highlight, of course, but his purchase was funded by the departure of Moussa Dembele. Maarten Stekelenburg joined just before Al Fayed left, but the spending on him was minimal.

It meant we stagnated. The average age of the squad merely got higher and higher as we retained our talent and added proven, experienced players on short term deals. Risk-free for Al Fayed, but terminal for our long term future.

We have been left in a perilous position, quickly trying to fill holes that have been prevalent for years now. Simply, it is not working.

You get the sense that if we do achieve the miraculous and retain our Premier League status, starting afresh is the only option.

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Khan needs to take a step back and make a plan of what he truly wants for this club, beyond just staying in the top tier. He wants sustainability and yet is prepared to chuck good money after a Greek striker who is set to play no further part in our campaign.

All of it reeks of panic, which is fair enough. Any club in our situation would be in not-a-small state of hysteria.

But we cannot go on like that. We need to learn from the mistakes of Khan’s first season, and take heed from the failures in the tail end of Al Fayed’s tenure.

Not planning for the future can be a club’s biggest downfall. Let’s not allow it to happen again.